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Sayaka wasn’t sure how this became a Student Council tradition every year. She had been their secretary for over two years now, so this wasn’t her first time doing this event. Kirari had once told her that the intent behind this occasion was to allow the Student Council members to bond, without Hyakkaou duties standing in the way. Sayaka only cared about spending time with the President, herself, but of course she would carry out the girl’s wishes - without complaint.
There she was, standing on the curb, down the sidewalk from the looming horror staring back at her. The building was three stories tall and very dimly lit. It would have looked much creepier, if there wasn’t a line of people waiting outside of the door already.
She turned to her left as she saw the black Rolls-Royce pull up beside her. It could have been about anyone, honestly. Having a chauffeur wasn't unusual for the students of Hyakkaou, in fact, it showed financial power. The only thing that mattered at this academy was power and there wasn’t a soul more powerful than Kirari Momobami. Even though she spent most of her days with the older girl, the slightest thought of her caused Sayaka to feel weak.
"Sayaka?" A familiar voice rang out. How could a noise soothe her, yet raise her blood pressure at the same time?
“Ah… President!” Sayaka snapped to her senses quickly, as she was being approached by the girl that moved her more than anyone else could.
“That’s a very fitting outfit for the Devil of Hyakkaou.” The voice led Sayaka to turn around and look at the other girl.
"Mary Saotome. What do you want?" Sayaka focused all of her attention on the blonde. It was clear she wanted this disturbance to walk away.
Mary looked the couple up and down and scoffed. She waited there briefly, expecting Kirari to take the bait, but no response came. Mary shrugged and continued down the sidewalk to the entrance, followed by her entourage of girls.
Sayaka peered over to her left to see Kirari’s face and, as expected, the older girl was grinning with a glint in her eye as the blonde left them. The President had a very soft grin on her face, there was an attentiveness to her eyes as she remained looking in Mary's direction.
Does the President only care for whatever intrigues her at any given moment? Of course she does, for Sayaka to think otherwise would be hopeful thinking, at best. Kirari Momobami has always been an enigma, which has been part of the reason Sayaka's love and admiration.
But today was slightly different, there was nothing mysterious about the way Kirari was dressed, aside from perhaps the reasoning behind it. Although, it was Halloween, so even that had an easy explanation. In fact, this tight fitting outfit left very little to the imagination, as it followed each curve of Kirari's body perfectly. A black suit with red trims, a small pair of horns atop her head, which looked almost uncomfortable fitting between her braids, and a red trident held in one hand, as large as Sayaka herself, with sharp prongs that looked far too pointed and metallic to be safe. None of that, however, was as bad as the two fangs gleaming from within Kirari's grinning teeth. They weren’t the cheap, fake fangs that one may find in a party store. Kirari, of course, went all out, no doubt even visiting a private dentist in order to get them professionally fitted to her canines for the event.
"I see you've chosen an interesting outfit, Sayaka," she chuckled, her hand coming to rest against her chin in contemplation as she looked Sayaka over one too many times for her to not begin feeling like prey under the eyes of a hungry lion.
"I'm a… librarian," the words were hesitant and felt foreign on her tongue. The only reason an answer was formed at all through her nerves was because of her unyielding duty to the President who she held in such high regard.
"Oh, is that so? Which library do you work at, I know of a book I’d like to check out,” her eyes roamed Sayaka’s frame without shame, not so much as wavering in her confidence.
"Ahem…" they were interrupted by a cleared throat, followed by a squeak that didn’t sound entirely human. Somehow, Sayaka had failed to notice the other twin emerge from the car, which is all the more surprising at the realisation that Ririka's usual theatrical mask was replaced with a snorkelling mask, goggles, tube and all, which did a surprisingly good job at hiding her face, as well as a diving suit and flippers. It became quickly apparent the source behind the aforementioned squeaking, for sat snugly around her hips was a large, yellow ring float in the shape of a duck - it made Sayaka wonder how she fit it in the car at all.
Sayaka bowed her head slightly, the glasses she'd decided to adorn for the night slipping down the bridge of her nose slightly. This caused her to need to push them back up, though she only received a slight head nod in return. The awkwardness was thankfully interrupted by a loud shriek closer to the entrance of the building, all three heads turning at once to see the cause. To nobody's surprise, Midari could be seen brandishing her gun at one of the guards in a frenzied anger, though it was clear neither she nor the guard was the culprit for the scream.
"What d'ya mean I ain't allowed in?" The guard, who was certainly not getting paid enough for this, looked terrified. Sayaka could only roll her eyes, as much as Midari enjoyed flaunting her lack of empathy and regard for others and herself, even she wouldn't shoot someone like this… hopefully. "Last year was a whole year ago! He didn't die! Let's put it behind us and lemme in!" What started off as a feigned niceness, of what little Midari could muster, quickly turned into an angry tell, and Sayaka believed it a good moment to step in. Before she could take more than two steps, she felt a soft, yet firm hand on her arm keeping her in place, Kirari smirking down at her as she moved in her stead, approaching Midari with her elegant gait.
"Midari." Everyone in the vicinity froze at the voice, even Mary, who had recently joined the line and been swarmed by a posse of girls, made a double take at the situation. Midari turned on her heel quickly, a glint in her eye betraying the glare she was giving the President. "If you could refrain from your barbaric activities for one evening, we would greatly appreciate it." She tilted her head slightly with a smile, nothing short of sadistic. The guard looked appreciative that someone was stepping in. Though, his apprehension that it was a high school girl was clear.
Midari glared her down for a few moments more, daring Kirari to make a move against her, but when it was clear nothing interesting was going to happen she backed off, pocketing her gun with a scoff and turning her attention back to the guard. Kirari didn't speak for a few moments, everyone seemingly holding their breath, "Let her enter," she moved forward, standing on the tips of her toes to whisper something more into the guards ear, his eyes widening before nodding abruptly, and each held breath was released at once as he moved to the side to let people enter.
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The haunted house itself was nothing special inside. It had the same typical corridors you would find in any other. Most of the cobwebs littering the corners of ceilings and walls looked fake, but it was obvious when a real one was spotted, the shrieks of girls behind them making it clear. Sayaka couldn’t help the occasional glance behind her as she followed the President, the look of disgust evident on her face if not for the darkness, at the sight she was repeatedly greeted with; The most noticeable of the girls surrounding Mary was Yumeko Jabami. The raven-haired girl kept herself clung against Mary's arm. It was a wonder how she didn’t lose it in all the cleavage.
Ririka followed close behind, separated from the group. Sayaka would have felt bad for her, if not for the incessant squeaking of the bright yellow duck and slapping of the flippers against the wooden floorboards. Her longing for the blonde was clear as day to anyone who dared to look. However, Mary would occasionally look back at her and ask if she was okay in a different way than she would with Yumeko or any of her other friends. Of course, Ririka would nod back shyly. It was then that the comforting feeling, of knowing whatever they had was mutual, would rise.
“Sayaka,” she was torn away from her thoughts by the unmistakable voice of the President, who hadn’t turned around to address her and was instead toying with some of the fabrics hanging from the walls as she walked past them. So far, nothing had popped out to scare them, there were only dark corridors and decorations adorning the walls and floor. “Hold this for me?” Kirari turned around now, temporarily halting any further advancement into the haunted house as she held her hand out that was holding her trident. Sayaka nodded fervently, taking it from her hand carefully. She was diligent in making sure that her hands wouldn’t graze with the President’s.
The moment Kirari had let go on her end, Sayaka had almost dropped it. The object’s weight was very surprising. What she had assumed was mostly made out of hollow plastic couldn’t have been anything less than pure metal, and she was bewildered that the President had seemed to hold it so easily. Sayaka, however, was not about to make herself seem less useful by any means.
“Of course, President!” Not a single scratch would come to mark the President’s property. Of that, Sayaka would stake her life. She clutched the trident tightly in her hands, while watching the President give one of her signature smiles before turning around and continuing down the hall, Sayaka following her close behind.
For a few fleeting moments, the atmosphere could almost be described as calm, but there was a tensity in the air bubbling just below the surface. As they rounded the first corner of the night a curtain parted slightly, only noticed due to the light gust of wind coming from that same direction. There was a second where nothing happened, and then all at once a figure clad in dark, ripped clothes and covered in fake blood with an axe appearing to stick from his head jumped out in front of the President. Sayaka jumped back in mild fright before collecting herself and rushing to the Kirari's side, the trident held out slightly in an aggressive manner.
"President, are you okay?" The actor was clearly confused, his posture straightening up slightly as he tried to make sense of the events unfolding before him, before resuming his practiced stance.
"Of course, Sayaka. Perhaps next time he might do his job better and actually scare someone." Sayaka's eyes darted from the President's to the not-so-dead dead man's, who was shrinking back no doubt in embarrassment. Sayaka could tell, even through the dark and the makeup, that he wasn't much older than herself. He'd probably taken on the job to save up some money for the upcoming Christmas holiday, if anything. He shrunk back to the side, his refusal to completely give up his role was admirable at least.
As both the President and Sayaka passed him they were followed by the rest of the invited group, all except for Midari, who could be heard attempting to barter for, or rather steal, the axe from the poor boy's head.
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It went on like that for a while, Sayaka following the President close behind, her hands still gripping the trident tightly as her eyes scanned each new room they entered. They were nearing the end, she could tell. The ever-increasing boredom on the President's face had etched a straight line across her mouth, her mind seemingly elsewhere as she languidly followed the route through the house.
"Boo!" Out of nowhere a figure, almost twice as large as Sayaka herself, appeared from behind her, his hand grabbing onto her shoulder in his successful attempt to scare her. She jumped back as she turned around, her foot catching on a stray decoration as she did so causing her to lose her footing, her arms flailing around as she fell. The trident made a loud clang against the floor, but there was no thud that one might have suspected from Sayaka's falling.
She felt hands under her arms holding her up halfway from the ground. When she dared to look up, she saw the President's bright blue eyes gleaming down at her, boredom absent from her face for the first time that evening. Sayaka went through almost every possible human emotion in the space of barely a second. First she was relieved that she hadn't fallen to the floor and injured herself, then the mortification that she had fallen into the President, after that came the happiness from being so intimately close with her, and finally embarrassment.
"Have a nice trip, Sayaka?" Kirari's amusement was clear in her voice as she helped lift Sayaka back up onto her feet. The man that had scared her before had long since slunk back into the dark crevice from whence he came. Sayaka was bright red, having to readjust the glasses she wasn't used to wearing anymore, her eyes now avoiding the President's.
She cleared her throat, her hand coming up to her mouth in a gesture of politeness. "My apologies, President…" It was then she realised that although she had tried to distance herself a few moments ago, Kirari had other ideas, her hands still resting on Sayaka's forearms and squeezing them gently after her apology.
"That's quite alright, Sayaka," she chuckled softly, a sound that made Sayaka's knees feel weak and one, she was sure, only she was privy to. Kirari's right hand slid up her arm before it came to rest on her shoulder, giving it another light squeeze, but instead of stopping there her thumb caressed the side of her neck. It sent shivers down Sayaka's spine and she couldn't help but meet the President's eyes, not only to question her actions, but to thank her for them. As bashful as those actions made her, they also made her incredibly happy and even calm, especially in a situation like this.
Thoughts of her previous scare were all but lost, taken away and washed to the sea within Kirari's eyes. She was so drawn in she didn't even realise the others passing the two of them as they stayed locked in what could hardly be called an embrace. Midari had run ahead with her new fake axe swinging by her side, while Mary had managed to walk through the rest of the haunted house, miraculously, with Yumeko clung to her side. Although, contrary to the beginning of the night, Ririka was much closer than before. She still lagged behind, of course, not only due to her shyness but also in part because of the large float still around her waist, but now one of Mary's hands were being pulled behind her, and Ririka's could be found within it. If the grimace on Mary's face told anything, it was that Ririka, much like her twin, had a vice grip and more strength than she probably needed.
"Sayaka." She was pulled out of her trance by the soft voice of the President calling her, and now that she wasn't completely lost within her eyes she could feel the hand resting against her cheek rather than her arm. As they were, Sayaka stood rock solid, afraid her knees would buckle if she tried to move at all, while Kirari cradled her head in both hands, and Sayaka could surely die happy in that moment.
"Yes, President?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, she was afraid that anything more and her voice would crack - an embarrassment she could never outrun. In that moment, at least to their knowledge, the two of them were alone. Kirari's eyes darted down to her lips and back up, as if she were asking permission for something for the first time in her life.
Sayaka could only nod, unsure if she was even reading the situation correctly, none of it really made sense - why would the President kiss her, especially here of all places? But it was the only probable outcome that made sense, given their proximity and the way the President was definitely leaning in closer and parting her lips.
Sayaka's gasp was halted as soon as it began, the warmth of another's lips encasing her own. It was short and sweet, barely longer than two seconds, but it was enough for tears to spring to the corners of Sayaka's eyes. Kirari, on the other hand, pulled away nonchalantly, as if she hadn't kissed Sayaka in the middle of a crappy haunted house.
Kirari's hands pulled away from Sayaka's face, her nails softly scratching before her warmth left completely. Sayaka could only stand there stunned, still afraid she'd fall if she tried to move, but then the warmth transferred to her left hand, and when she looked down she saw the President's long and slender fingers wrapped around her palm.
"What do you say we don't end the night here, Sayaka?" Kirari looked back, a sly smirk evident on her lips as she pulled Sayaka along to the end of the hall and through the exit. Sayaka nodded ecstatically, unable to produce any coherent sounds. Once the President had looked back in front of her, she bought her free hand up to her lips, running one finger along it gently, still amazed by the events of the night. She wasn't sure what the President had planned, exactly, as far as Sayaka was aware there were no other venues they were meant to visit that night, and she knew of some of the other council members' plans and they certainly didn't involve herself or the President.
Sayaka followed with a bounce in her step, the worries she had about the haunted house the previous night all but washed away with a gratefulness that the President had such strange ideas for student council activities.